{"id":452605,"date":"2025-12-17T06:12:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T06:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/452605\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T06:12:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T06:12:24","slug":"shakira-adams-gets-maximum-time-behind-bars-for-crash-that-killed-matthew-mcluckie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/452605\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakira Adams gets maximum time behind bars for crash that killed Matthew McLuckie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canberra woman Shakira Adams has been sentenced to 14 years in jail for killing 20-year-old Matthew McLuckie in a high-speed crash in Canberra in 2022.<\/p>\n

Warning: This story contains a confronting image.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adams, 23, pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing death and driving a stolen car, after a protracted court process.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Matthew McLuckie, 20, was killed in a car crash while driving home from work. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

On the night of the crash, Adams was unlicensed, driving a stolen vehicle and was believed to have been street racing with another car.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She drove to the wrong side of Hindmarsh Drive, travelling at least 177 kilometres per hour when she hit Mr McLuckie’s car head-on, killing him.<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr McLuckie had been travelling home from his work at Canberra’s airport.<\/p>\n

‘He should be here’<\/p>\n

Mr McLuckie’s loved ones breathed sighs of relief and cheered “yes” when Adams was sentenced to the maximum penalty.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr McLuckie’s dad, Tom McLuckie, said he believed the court had made the right decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen people found guilty of culpable driving charges get one or two years in prison. I think what [Justice McCallum’s] done today suggests the objective seriousness of the case is so appallingly bad, you will do a significant prison term,” he said outside court.<\/p>\n

But he said his relief was far outweighed by grief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Matthew,<\/p>\n

Matthew McLuckie with his brother Joe and parents Amanda and Tom. He died in May 2022. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Every day is a challenge … I’ve been wished all the best for my recovery in the past.<\/p>\n

“[But] I don’t know what kind of recovery people think you’re going to have, because I’m never going to wake up and be at ease with what happened to my son. I never will.<\/p>\n

“I will always remember him.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indefinite driving disqualification<\/p>\n

Adams was handed a non-parole period of nine years and will not be eligible for release until August 2034.<\/p>\n

She was also disqualified from driving indefinitely.<\/p>\n

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said the most troubling evidence was that Adams continued using methamphetamine while on bail, a pattern of behaviour she found made her even “more dangerous than at the time of the offence”.<\/p>\n

“I cannot be confident she would not attempt to drive if at liberty in the community,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Justice McCallum said.<\/p>\n

“That is a risk that will not be taken through me.”<\/p>\n

Justice McCallum said on the night of the crash, Adams had driven “dangerously and erratically” covering 19.5 kilometres in 17 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said at one point Adams had sped through a red light with five other cars in the vicinity.<\/p>\n

“Almost every second exposed others to risk,” Justice McCallum said.<\/p>\n

The court heard Adams had not slept for a number of days before the crash and tests revealed drugs, including ice, in her system, which Justice McCallum found would have “impaired her driving considerably”.<\/p>\n

Adams was seriously injured in the crash and has a traumatic brain injury.<\/p>\n

‘Trauma-informed’ hearing<\/p>\n

Matthew McLuckie’s family have maintained a constant presence through every court appearance.<\/p>\n

His father, Tom, placed a framed photo of his son in the court each time.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for Adams objected at one point, but Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said the photo could remain.<\/p>\n

“It behoves the court to hold the hearing in a way that is trauma-informed,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chief Justice McCallum said.\"Wreckage<\/p>\n

Police allege the woman was travelling at a speed of at least\u00a0177kph. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

At the outset, Adams’s lawyers made applications for her to be declared unfit to plead.<\/p>\n

But Chief Justice McCallum said Adams was capable of retaining and retrieving information and could stand trial.<\/p>\n

After that bid failed, Adams’s lawyers made a last-ditch attempt and gave evidence to the court themselves, with her solicitor telling the court she was unable to take instructions from Adams.<\/p>\n

But Adams pleaded guilty before a trial could be convened, paving the way for today’s sentencing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canberra woman Shakira Adams has been sentenced to 14 years in jail for killing 20-year-old Matthew McLuckie in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":452606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[46367,207646,162496,4740,4745,4903,207641,4446,1230,207644,207638,207645,207642,207637,50,207640,6180,207639,207643],"class_list":{"0":"post-452605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-46367","9":"tag-act-policing","10":"tag-act-supreme-court","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-canberra","13":"tag-crash","14":"tag-culpable-driving-causing-death","15":"tag-death","16":"tag-drugs","17":"tag-head-on","18":"tag-hindmarsh-drive","19":"tag-illicit-substances","20":"tag-lucy-mccallum","21":"tag-matthew-mcluckie","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-pleaded-guilty","24":"tag-racing","25":"tag-shakira-adams","26":"tag-tom-mcluckie"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115733434176130948","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}